‘The Punisher’ Showrunner Steve Lightfoot on Season 2, If He’d Rather Do 10 Episodes, and More

When Marvel TV first announced its intention to create original TV series for Netflix, the lineup consisted of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, all leading up to the miniseries The Defenders. But Daredevil Season 2 introduced the comics character The Punisher into the mix, played by Jon Bernthal, and fans reacted so strongly that Marvel and Netflix moved forward with their first spinoff series: The Punisher.

The series debuted in November 2017 and was quickly renewed for a second season, which is currently in production. Collider’s own Steve Weintraub spoke with The Punisher showrunner Steve Lightfoot at the Saturn Awards recently and asked him about the crafting of Season 2, fan expectations, and more.

Image via Netflix

When asked if he took fan reaction to Season 1 into account when putting together The Punisher Season 2, Lightfoot had an encouraging response:

“That’s always tricky because you get such a variation, some people love it, some people hate it, some people are in the middle. My personal opinion with that stuff is you just have to be true to the character and the story you choose to tell. You want them to love it obviously, but if you start worrying about the audience it can be a trap. I think we just have to keep trying to be true to Frank’s character and make him someone people want to hang out with.”

When Lighfoot pitched his take on The Punisher, did he have a full series arc in mind?:

“Very loosely. What happens when you then start writing a season is you find things and writers come up with things and things appear in episodes and it sort of takes on a life of itself, so you can’t be too rigid with that stuff. I always knew what the journey of Season 1 was which meant I knew what Season 2 would be.”

Image via Netflix

As for whether he’d rather have 10 episodes per season as opposed to the Marvel Netflix tradition of 13, Lightfoot said he’s a fan of the slow burn:

“It’s an interesting thing, that. People have always said to me, ‘Do you wish you’d have had 10?’ and then I say, ‘Well then you would’ve had less story.’ I always wanted it to be a slow burn show. I always felt like we had the right amount for 13, and you’ve gotta have enough story for that but I like how slow burn and character-driven the shows are.”

See what all Lightfood had to say about The Punisher in the player above. A premiere date for Season 2 has not yet been announced.

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